Southeast Asian startups are increasingly adopting AI in content creation, thereby having an unexpected yet significant effect on well-established marketing roles, such as brand ambassador. HubSpot, which develops software solutions for sales, marketing, and customer service, reports that 80% of marketers consider creating content a top priority for their businesses. The practice builds product awareness and loyalty, improves online visibility through search engine optimisation (SEO), boosts conversions, and informs the audience.

Using AI in marketing takes content creation to the next level by streamlining the process, conducting research faster, and compiling relevant data to produce articles. Moreover, it automates data analysis to gain insights on various topics and personalises content to suit the users.

Achieving marketing success with insights from fractional marketing experts

According to WebFX, a tech-enabled digital marketing solutions provider, creating content generates 54% more leads than traditional methods. Thus, reviewing the possible impacts of AI content creation versus legacy marketing in Southeast Asia is vital.

Impacts of AI on marketing in Southeast Asia

The artificial intelligence market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) looks set to reach USD 6.72 billion in 2024 and USD 30.30 billion in 2030. The benefits of using AI for creating content include a quick turnaround of fully-researched blog posts, fast production of many articles, lowering company expenses, translating foreign languages, removing writer’s block, and improved SEO due to recommendations from AI tools.

As a result, AI content creation will affect marketing roles in several ways:

Reduced workloads for teams

AI-powered tools for content creation are evolving, reducing the workload for marketing teams. For example, Generative AI (GenAI) creates content in seconds when users write a prompt into the input box. A prompt describes the task the user wants the GenAI to perform.

Secondly, Content Management Software (CMS) manages and organises content, automates tasks, enables collaboration for multiple content creators, regulates access to posts, and improves online visibility, among others. Expectations are that its market will grow to revenues of USD 270.10 million in 2024 because customers are seeking products that are user-friendly, customisable, and easily integrated into CMS. 

Redefining job functions

Previous marketing job positions are changing or disappearing because AI is redefining how marketers work across Southeast Asia. Teams are shifting from traditional methods of promoting and selling to data-driven strategies powered by artificial intelligence. Workers must now understand how to use AI tools to:

  • design content for social media, email, and brand management, 
  • analyse trends to predict the information the audience is searching for
  • engage customers with trending topics related to a business’s products and services
  • monitor social media updates to push relevant content
  • tailor the product descriptions to align with customer searches
  • create short-form videos regarding a company’s offerings

Solving resource and budget constraints

Multiple studies have shown that many companies struggle with operating costs and seek to generate more revenue while reducing expenses. Marketing is usually one of the first departments that get budget cuts.

Since Southeast Asian startups often face resource constraints, they can use AI as an alternative to create high-quality content quickly and cost-effectively.

The need for more AI experts in ASEAN

With the technological advancements AI is bringing to marketing, there is a growing demand for AI experts and a further need to upskill current employees to learn the nuances of the job. Artificial intelligence and automation can disrupt marketing teams when there is an imbalance in what they know about using the budding tech.

Encouraging employees to hone their skills opens pathways for career advancement and ensures the company remains competitive in the market.

Outlook on AI in marketing and content creation

Artificial intelligence is expected to expand in 2025 as regional governments and private sector companies invest in industry research. For example, Microsoft announced a USD 2.2 billion investment in Malaysia’s AI infrastructure.

Southeast Asian startups may face the challenge of integrating AI and other technologies into their business operations and using them efficiently in automation. Significant knowledge gaps also exist when using innovative tech, which may require additional costs to recruit and pay experts versed in using AI in content creation.

Furthermore, data privacy and security remain an issue, as well as the potential risks of copyright infringement, because artificial intelligence gathers various web information to generate an article.

Nevertheless, AI will continue shaping marketing in Southeast Asia because the technology is evolving, and users are gaining a better understanding of how to prompt it to create the type of content needed. The new market trends will focus on finding ways to engage customers in real-time and personalise services to a higher degree. In fact, there are many AI-powered tools for content creation that are either free or affordablefor many businesses.

Finally, there is an increasing demand for ASEAN businesses to go green. Using AI in marketing can help reduce the number of workers travelling to the office, reducing their carbon footprint. Thus, implementing the technology will benefit the company and the environment.